Broken tail lights led to a high-speed chase — and a jail sentence — for a Broadway, Va. man who led officers across three counties, traveling at speeds up to 115 mph in January.
Blake Custer, 25, entered into a plea agreement last Thursday, pleading guilty to eluding police and reckless driving.
On Jan. 10, Custer was traveling down Route 211 heading east when Deputy Matthew Bennett observed two broken tail lights on his vehicle, according to a criminal complaint Bennett filed in the circuit court.
When Bennett turned on his lights to pull him over, Custer fled, reaching a top speed of 115 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to the complaint.
The chase traveled through Rappahannock and Culpeper counties into Fauquier County, Bennett wrote in the complaint, where Fauquier County law enforcement set up spike strips that ultimately stopped Custer’s vehicle. When officers ran Custer’s license, they found it to be suspended.
A female passenger in the car with Custer told officers that she asked Custer to “pull over and stop the car and let her out” multiple times, but he would not. Custer was originally charged with abduction, but the charge was not prosecuted at this time.
Custer appeared in Rappahannock County Circuit Court last Thursday, and pleaded guilty to both charges brought against him. Judge Dennis L. Hupp accepted his plea and sentenced him on the eluding charge to five years in jail, four years suspended and for the reckless driving charge, 12 months in jail, all suspended, and a $2,500 fine, $2,000 suspended.
